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A career on the instalment plan

Royce Clayton knows all about being a one-year rental. &quot;That's basically how it's been the last five years of my career,&quot; said the slender 37-year-old, now on the verge of his 17th season as a major-league shortstop, now on his 10th major-league team.

By Allan RyanSPORTS REPORTER

Tues., March 27, 2007

BRADENTON, Fla.–Royce Clayton knows all about being a one-year rental.

"That's basically how it's been the last five years of my career," said the slender 37-year-old, now on the verge of his 17th season as a major-league shortstop, now on his 10th major-league team.

"There's been years I've been told I'm a stop-gap ... told, 'You know, you're just here for the year because we've got this kid we're going to look at next season.'

"I appreciate the honesty, but that's the way it is now. When I was coming up (breaking in with the 1991 Giants), there were very few teams who just said they were going to give a young guy a shot and not be interested in actually trying to win ballgames.

"Now, they just give jobs to kids because there's a number of teams who don't think they have a chance to win. A team needs help, it goes to its farm system and gives the young guys on-the-job training.

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"That takes a lot of training, too, which also takes a lot of opportunities away for veterans who could really step in and help."

The perception about being a one-year rental remains the same, of course, and, in the end, so probably will be the reality.

A year from now, we might be talking about another new Blue Jay shortstop – maybe the Julio Lugo of next winter's free-agent marketplace. We might be talking about Aaron Hill's impressive reconversion from second to short.

And there's an off-chance we might be talking about Blue Jay shortstop, Royce Clayton, that wily warhorse.

"I've been patient trying to find a good fit these last few years," said Clayton, adding that he might have a special fit on the go just now.

"This is different, a different opportunity. I'm the every-day shortstop on a very good ball club and I'm looking forward to this being a great experience."

It hasn't been a bumper spring at the plate for Clayton, a career .258 hitter with 109 homers in the books. With five games to go, he's at .167 with five RBIs but has just a solitary error. Afield, he's been steady if unspectacular but making all the routine plays will be a welcome twist in a Toronto shortstop.

"(Troy) Glaus and (Frank) Thomas are our only other guys who've been," noted manager John Gibbons. "Guys have instant respect for him and what he's done in the game. I've talked to people on other teams, too. They tell me this guy's got a lot left."

He's in his usually great physical shape, given his increased regimen of mountain biking, mountain climbing and roadwork back home in Arizona. His wife Samantha, a sprinter in the 2000 Sydney Olympics, is a driving force.

"My lifestyle is a lot her," said Clayton. "A lot of healthy cooking and a relatively stress-free life – if you can say that having triplets (Imani, Niya and Elijah, now 17 months) and a 3-year-old (Royce, Jr.).

"But all the leg work, too. With athletes, they say the first sign they can't go out and do what they do is in the legs. But I think of all the roadwork, having a friend (Samantha) to do it with ... it's had to have prolonged my career.

" ... My body feels like I'm a 23-year-old."

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